Supposedly fun things (with Bluetooth)

There are countless silly things coming out of CES, including the nugget of information that the Faraday FutureFF91 is only 9 (not 6) inches narrower than the new London Routemasters (2283mm to 2520mm). One of the more fascinating and sinister developments is the Ocean Medallion, a tracking device developed by Princess Cruises as a way of improving on-board service. ‘The first ship to feature the system is the Regal Princess. 75 miles (121km) of cables, more than 7,000 sensors and 4,000 digital screens were installed in 10 days in Italy.’ It’s essentially a sea-going version of the Disney MagicBand (dissected and appraised in this great Wired piece from October 2015).

This kind of tracking is even more perfectly suited to the closed environment of a cruise ship than it it is to a theme park, but what happens when the cruise is over? Will you be encouraged to keep wearing it in anticipation of your next trip, with biometric data gauging when your system is in need of a holiday. Partner companies on the high street and in the mall could offer subtle enticements to band-wearers to keep powering through (a free rum-spiced latte to evoke the tastes of the Caribbean) until cruise-time comes again. Thanks to the medallion, you can gamify 50 weeks of your life to make your next two-week vacation seem even more special.